Heal Your Gut, Heal Your Body – 9 Everyday Habits How To Heal Your Gut Naturally.

In the past few years, every conversation about health seems to lead back to ‘gut health’. Gut health became a prominent focus of the 21st century. Often referred to as the ‘second brain’ – the gut can act autonomously and even influence behaviour by sending messages up the vagus nerve to the brain. The gut is an incredible organ. It is responsible for producing 95% of all serotonin (the good feel hormone), 50% of all dopamine, comprises of incredible 500 million neurons, trillions of bacteria and it is about 9 metres long,

“Healing the gut is the single most important step we can take to ensure our lifelong health.”~ Alejandro Junger

We are all familiar with the saying: every disease starts in the gut. It is not only about what we eat, but more importantly what we can digest. If your gut doesn’t absorb the nutrients you are trying to offer to your body via the foods and drinks you ingest on a daily basis, you will with the time become nutrient deficient. When your body suffers from nutritional deficiencies, your body naturally slows down in being efficient at the highest level and getting weaker day by day.   Heal your gut – Heal your body. 

19 symptoms of poor gut health

When your gut health isn’t at its optimal, the common symptoms might include:

• Fatigue & low energy
• Food allergies and/or food intolerances
• Acid reflux/GERD
• Bad breath
• Skin issues – acne
• Bloating, gas and indigestion
• Constipation and/or diarrhea
• Hormonal imbalances
• Headaches
• Brain fog or trouble concentrating
• Weight-gain & weight-loss
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Mood swings
• Joint pain
• Inflammation
• Frequent infections
• Sugar cravings
• Carbohydrate cravings

Can you relate to any of the symptoms mentioned above? Do you feel you could definitely do a better job and restore your gut health? Let’s have a look at some habits you can develop and include in your daily lifestyle, as well as what foods you should consider leaving off the table, at least for the matter of the time.

9 Tips on How to heal your gut for better overall health, clear skin, weight-loss, and healthier brain

Below, you can find FREE tips you can start practising today. All you need is your willingness to become a better and healthier you. I don’t remember where exactly I heard a truly excellent quote that goes like this:

People don’t create their futures. People create habits, and those habits create people’s futures. ~ Unknown

I can’t agree more. The whole process of creating habits sometimes sounds almost like a science. When in reality it is very simple. Pick something you want to get better at, do it, repeat daily, keep it up, keep practising until it becomes automatic.

Developing a habit isn’t about keeping going for 21 days (as I’ve read in a few journals), but rather about keeping going until it becomes a ‘second nature’ without feeling forced to do so. You have to keep repeating the process until you master it. When you repeat it enough times, it will then become flawless. You change your brain neuropathways. Decide deliberately to work on it, keep practising with the purpose, and one day it will just be there! (and from that day on, it might very very feel like it has always been there!)

Please, remember to be kind to yourself. Do not, under any circumstances, beat yourself up when you slip off. We are all human, and developing a habit is not our strongest nature. Just keep going. Shake it off, dance, forgive yourself and get back on the path to success. You are doing this for your future self (always think of tomorrow, a week later, a month later, a year, 5, 10 years later from now). Your One & Only precious body will thank you for the work you continuously keep doing.

It is important to keep yourself in the picture at all times. You are doing this for yourself. How do you want to feel 10 years from now? Healthy and strong? I bet that’s the right answer!

Now, let’s get to the 9 healthy habits you can do at home to optimise your gut health:

1. Clean Up Your Diet

If you want to heal your gut, the first thing you want to do is to avoid all processed foods. This requires a big mindset shift, as you will have to learn how to prepare your own food. Many people are scared of this step, but let me tell you, it is by far the best thing you can do for your body and mind!

Our society has been conditioned to eat “food-like-substances”, instead of real food, and this has to change. I have always been a huge believer in preparing your own food, as that’s the only true way you can make sure your food will nourish you at the maximum level. When you feel confused about what to add to your shopping basket at the grocery shop, just think of what would your grand-grand mother buy? Most likely only the foods that actually are whole foods. Not the junk with a long list of various ingredients you can’t even pronounce.

To help your gut microbiome to heal, you will have to clean up your diet from:

• gluten – even if you are not Coeliac, and feel like you have no problem with gluten unless you always eat only ancient grains sources, you will benefit greatly from leaving the gluten out. This could be a difficult task at first, but it will be rewarding. Leave out all the pastries, toast bread, and pasta made with white refined flour. Wheat, rye, barley and oats are the grains that contain gluten. Fortunately, there are many gluten-free alternatives you can go with: – quinoa, brown rice, millet, amaranth, buckwheat, gluten-free oats.

• dairy – dairy plays a big role in inflammation of the gut, and this often shows on the skin is a form of acne. Also, the industrialised dairy is mucus forming, so if you have a problem with asthma, you should consider leaving the dairy out. Find out whether you are sensitive to dairy by leaving it out of your diet for a month. After a month, keep a journal writing down what type of dairy you consume, and how do your body and mind react. Personally, what works for me is an occasional unpasteurised grass-fed butter. In regards to cheese, I can consume Manchego made out of 100% ewe’s milk. Any other source of dairy I eat doesn’t agree with my body at all.

• junk food – there isn’t really junk food. There is junk, and there is FOOD.

2. Eat whole, unprocessed foods + good fats

“Optimal gut balance begins with your diet, which directly affects that balance.” ~ Mark Hyman, MD.

One of the best ways to improve your gut health is cutting out the sugar and refined carbohydrates, and introducing more high-fibre, unprocessed foods like legumes, peas, bananas, berries, asparagus, leeks, leafy greens, onions, garlic, as well as healthy protein and healthy fats. Make sure 75 percent of your plate be vegetables and plant-based foods. Your gut bugs will be very happy!

⇒ One of the best choice of oil for not high-temperature cooking, or for drizzling onto your salads and veggies is organic extra virgin olive oil.

⇒ For high-temperature cooking, I use the avocado oil as it has a very high smoke point, so it doesn’t oxidise when is heated. Another great choice is extra virgin coconut oil – I use this for preparation of all of my Thai curries.

⇒ Ghee is another excellent choice to use for high-temperature cooking. I use it mostly when cooking stews, and dishes with lentils, beans and other pulses.

⇒ Organic sesame oil is great to use for cooking Chinese dishes.

⇒ MCT oil is great to add to your smoothies or a cup of coffee.

Oils to avoid:

Avoid industrial oils at all cost, as they oxidize fast and become rancid very quickly. They all contain high levels of omega-6 fatty acids, which your gut microbiome dislike. High levels of omega-6 may contribute to chronic inflammation. Stay away from:

• canola oil
• soybean oil
• sunflower oil
• peanut oil
• rice bran oil

Replace the bad fats with good fats. Include high-quality omega-3 fats like extra virgin olive oil, avocados, almonds. Another great choice of healthy fat is virgin coconut oil, ghee (clarified butter, where the lactose is removed), grass-fed butter, and lard. Healthy fats help to decrease the inflammation in the body, so make an effort to implant them into your diet!

Remember, variety is the key – do not rely only on one type of fat, mix them up!

3. Add fermented foods

Fermented foods have been around for thousands of years. They remain popular until these days, and there is a good reason for that: they help to improve digestion, boost immunity and help with maintaining a healthy weight.

Eating the foods that contain probiotics is a great way to start optimizing your gut flora. Some of the excellent sources to implement into your diet are Kimchi, Sauerkraut, Kefir, Kombucha, Miso, Tempeh, Greek Yogurt.

⇒ !! GET The best Kimchi ever recipe here !! ⇐

When you start implementing fermented foods, you help your gut to heal naturally.

4. Stress less

Chronic stress has a negative impact on the whole body. When you are stressed you tempt to over-eat, or under-eat, or simply eating too fast without chewing your food. That means most of the food can’t get digested properly and as a result, your microbiome suffers, and this, in turn, can affect your mental health. I understand that sometimes is almost impossible to avoid stressful situations — however, I believe with focus on conscious decisions and the right management of our mind (and thoughts), we can at least reduce the amount of the stress we are exposed to almost daily.

Instead of stressing over the things you can’t control, choose to focus on the things you can control – such as how you choose to react to problems.

Your reaction is entirely your choice, including how you react to your stomach issues. Take a break, and breathe.

Don’t be afraid to say ‘NO’. Trying to do everything yourself is a recipe for surefire stress. Know when to say “no”, know your limits, and don’t feel obliged to take on additional responsibilities someone else can help with. We are humans, and we thrive the best in groups. Delegate, or ask for help.

5. Sleep more

Not getting an adequate amount of good sleep might have a serious impact on your gut health.

Your body heals itself whilst you sleep. Develop a habit of getting to bed at the same hour every night, and wake up at the same set hour in the morning.

Try your best to get close to 8 hours of sleep a night. To help with the sound sleep, avoid eating at least 3 hours before bedtime. Keep your bedroom dark, and without electronic devices. If you must use your mobile for alarm, keep it in Airplane mode.

6. Get moving

Move your body daily – engaging in physical activity is what we were born to do. Set a non-negotiable limit of your daily movement.

Whether that’s a 15 minutes walk, 10 minutes yoga, stretching, running, squatting, push-ups – whatever is yours, just do it. Do not let your brain to talk you out of it.

Your brain likes comfort and loves to do repeatedly what has always done. Change it with purpose in your mind.

7. Chew your food

Digestion starts in the mouth. The saliva plays an important part in the whole digestion – it contains enzymes, that help break down the food so that it can be then further processed in the stomach.

Do you sit down and relax whilst fueling/nourishing your body, or do you eat on the move only to get some food in, whilst thinking about what’s next on your schedule?

When you eat, you should consciously decide to enjoy it – meaning chew slowly every single mouthful. When chewing sufficiently, you derive the full benefits from what you eat.

How many times do you chew every single mouthful of the food? If you answered 10 times, I congratulate you, that’s certainly more than the average person. If you are nowhere near that, start with 10 and work it out up to 30. Hint: Wholefoods are naturally more fibrous than a cupcake 🙂

8. Enjoy a glass of green juice or green smoothie

If you are not a big fan of blending your greens, fruits and vegetables, or simply not sure whether you should or shouldn’t include green drinks in your daily lifestyle, feel welcome to read my article I wrote a while ago on the topic  “Are Green Smoothies Actually Good For You?”

Probably the easiest way how to get your greens into your diet without any hassle is to purchase Organic Greens powder – you can simply add the powder into a glass of water, and that’s it!

My very favourite lately is the Organic Greens powder (Orange & Lime) from Love Life Nutrition. ‘Organic Greens powder’ is a highly nutritious blend of 7 organic green plants that includes prebiotics as well as probiotics, and is sweetened with stevia. I like to add a teaspoon or two to my afternoon glass of water. It truly does taste delicious.

9. Take a good probiotic supplement

A good probiotic supplement helps to reduce gut inflammation whilst cultivating health and the growth of good bacteria. At the right level, probiotics aid digestion and improve nutrient absorption.

Probiotics naturally occur in fermented foods, however, you can also find a good manufactured supplement. Always check the ingredients on the supplement’s label, as you do not necessarily want a product that contains ‘anti-caking agent’ and other nasty ingredients when trying to heal your gut.

Also, consider nourishing your gut with prebiotics. Prebiotics are natural soluble fibres that feed the good bacteria in your large intestine, helping to promote balanced gut flora and healthy bowel function. You can find prebiotics in a variety of plant-based foods such as green leafy vegetables, Jerusalem Artichokes, Bananas, Garlic, Onions, Leeks, Chicory Root, Asparagus, Flax Seeds, Apples, Cabbage, Kale…

At the moment I get my probiotics ‘Lactospore Plus’ (UK) from Love Life Supplements. I also get my ‘Organic Greens powder’, ‘Collagen’ and ‘Essential Aminos’ from them. I love this company, as they use the finest ingredients for their products, and they don’t cut any corners. No fillers, binders, and no artificial additives. A small, dedicated and very knowledgeable team is always happy to help and answer any questions you might have. And lastly, the supplements are made in the UK – and as you already know, I love to support local businesses! Win-win!

It is generally a good practice to rotate probiotics from time to time.

A few other brands I tried and love are:

Advanced Live Culture Formula (probiotics) from Barefood Nutrition (UK) – Developed with world-leading specialists in probiotic cultures, this advanced live culture formula is an optimal blend of 11 healthful bacteria species at 50 billion CFU per capsule. Made in the UK and with the inclusion of the organic prebiotic inulin, spore-forming soil-based bacteria and with absolutely zero artificial additives providing one of the most potent and complete pro-biotic supplements available. Bonus: plastic-free packaging. Good for you and good for the environment. 

Pro-Bio Boost form Neal’s Yard Remedies – A high potency blend of naturally occurring live bacteria to target the digestive tract.

• Highly stable and durable, resistant to stomach acid and bile salts
• No refrigeration required
• Free from wheat, yeast, gluten and lactose
• Vegan approved

Multi Strain Biotic from Wild Nutrition (UK) – A high strength (30 billion), a unique complex of 8 strains of bacteria in powder form to support shifts in bacteria or flora. For all year round use, while travelling in hygiene-compromised locations, after a course of medication and if your diet was once high in sugar, caffeine or alcohol. Bonus: all the supplements are food-grown and in responsible plastic-free packaging!

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If you feel like you need to address your gut issues on a deeper level, my recommendation is to look for a functional medicine practitioner, or a wellness centre, where you can get the appropriate lab tests done. I have done the GI-map stool test (UK), which accurately measures levels of gut bacteria (good and bad), yeast (e.g. candida), parasites, H-Pyloria, and markers for inflammation, immune function and digestive capacity.

My labs together with pre- and post-consultations were done by Well-works – an online functional medicine practice. The company’s focus is to examine your genetics, digestion, hormones, and lifestyle, and to customise a unique solution for you built on the foundations of optimal health – Diet, Rest, Exercise, Stress Management and Supplements.

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Have you tried any of the methods mentioned above to heal your gut? What else have you found that works for you?  Let’s get the conversation about our guts going!

Leave me a comment below or book a ⇒ 30-minutes FREE CONSULTATION with me to find out how can I support you here!

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